At long last, the Hong Kong government is dropping most curbs on inbound visitors to the destination.
Until recently, travellers arriving in Hong Kong are subject to the
“0+3” policy, issued an amber code on their health app, and cannot enter
restaurants until they test negative after three days.
With the latest to remove the amber health code from Wednesday, 14
December, Hong Kong is adopting the 0+0 regime, effectively lifting all
travel restrictions for arrivals into the city who test negative and
allowing them to move freely.
The latest ease of restrictions in Hong Kong comes after mainland
China continues to move away from its strict ‘zero-Covid’ strategy.
Welcoming the move, Dr Pang Yiu-kai, Chairman of Hong Kong Tourism
Board (HKTB), said: “The new arrangements marks the opening of the
tourism doors of Hong Kong. Upon fulfilling the vaccination and Covid-19
test requirements, visitors can now enjoy Hong Kong’s full range of
diverse and exciting experiences, including our culinary offerings. We
expect that the new measures will stimulate travellers interests in
visiting Hong Kong.”
In response to the latest announcement, the Cathay Pacific Group,
which includes passenger airlines Cathay Pacific and HK Express,
announced that it is ramping up capacity across the region.
The airline group has already added about 3,000 passenger flight
sectors in 4Q 2022, including resumption of flights for Cathay Pacific
to popular destinations such as Tokyo (Haneda), Denpasar (Bali) and
Zurich in November, as well as Sapporo, Fukuoka, Penang and Dhaka in
December. More popular destinations are set to be resumed in 2023,
including Phuket and Nagoya in January.
Meanwhile, HK Express has resumed flights to Tokyo (Haneda), Chiang
Mai and Danang in December, with services to Jeju and Busan in the
pipeline for January.